London 2012 Paralympics - Ceremonies, Medals, Torch Relay London 2012 Qualification Criteria SPORTS The Games featured 20 sports, most of which took place in London with the exception of Sailing at Weymouth and Portland, Rowing at Eton Dorney and Road Cycling which was staged at Brands Hatch. Archery Para athletics Boccia Cycling Equestrian Football 5-a-side Football 7-a-side Goalball Judo Para powerlifting Rowing Sailing Shooting Para sport Para swimming Table tennis Sitting volleyball Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair fencing Wheelchair rugby Wheelchair tennis TORCH RELAY IPC President Sir Philip Craven was among the first five Torchbearers to carry the London 2012 Paralympic Flame after it was created at an emotional ceremony at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. He was joined by four other legends of the Paralympics – Baroness Susan Masham of Ilton, Caz Walton, Sally Haynes and Jane Blackburn – after the four national flames were joined at the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement.

The Paralympic Flame then left on a 92-mile journey to the Olympic Stadium in a 24-hour torch relay that involved 580 Torchbearers working in teams of five. Prior to the Stoke Mandeville event, National Flames were created at the summit of the highest peaks of the four home nations: Scafell Pike (England), Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa (Wales), Ben Nevis (Scotland) and Slieve Donard (Northern Ireland). The four individual Flames were then placed in a miner's lantern and transferred to the nation's capital cities. Paralympic celebrations took place in London, Belfast Edinburgh and Cardiff. Find out more about the London 2012 Torch Relay here. OPENING CEREMONY London 2012 launched in unforgettable style with leading scientist Professor Stephen Hawking and renowned actor Sir Ian McKellen appearing in a memorable event. The Ceremony took the form of a play, with Hawking introducing proceedings before Sir Ian took over, taking the role of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and guiding the principle character Miranda through the evening’s proceedings.

All of the athletes received a huge ovation when they entered an Olympic Stadium drenched in colour, before gathering in the centre to play their part in the remainder of the ceremony. The Games were officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, before Royal Marine Joe Townsend brought the Paralympic Flame into the stadium. Great Britain 5-a-side footballer David Clarke carried the Flame on, before the country’s first ever Paralympic gold medalist Margaret Maughan lit the Paralympic Cauldron. MEDALS For the third consecuitve Games China topped the medals table winning 231 in total. This was 20 more than they won on homesoil in 2008 underlining their position as the Paralympic superpower. After finishing eighth in 2008, Russia showed the greatest imporvement climbing to second overall with 36 gold medals. Host nation Great Britain, who won 18 more medals than in Beijing, finished third whilst Ukraine and Australia finished fourth and fifth for the second consecutive Games. In total 75 of the 164 competing countries won at least one medal.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES Swimmers were the athletes to take home the most medals from London 2012 with Australia's Jacqueline Freney (8 golds) and Brazil's Daniel Dias (6 golds) leading the way. On the track Great Britain's David Weir and USA's Martin Raymond were in unbeatable form. Bouyed on by a vocal home crowd Weir took T54 gold in the 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m and marathon whereas 18 year old Raymond, who was making his Games debut, took T52 gold in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m. In wheelchair tennis , Dutch sensation Esther Vergeer was reduced to tears winning her fourth Paralympic gold and 470th consecutive match. There were also some big upsets in the Games. Brazil's Alan Oliveira beat South Africa's Oscar Pistorius to 200m T44 gold and Canada halted USA's hopes of a fourth wheelchair rugby gold in five Games with a semi-final defeat. Australia eventually picked up the gold.

ATTENDANCE AND COVERAGE A record 2.7 million tickets were sold for the Games with most events and sessions selling out. The Games were broadcast to over 100 countries and territories, the most ever. In the UK rights holder Channel 4 screened over 150 hours of live coverage, achieving record audiences. More than 11.2 million watched the Opening Ceremony - the channel's biggest audience of a decade - and most days the channel enjoyed the biggest audience share of all the main UK channels. Channel 4's coverage reached 39.9 million people - over 69% of the UK population. London 2012 was the first truly social and online Games. Throughout the course of the Games there were 1.3 million tweets mentioning 'Paralympic', 25 million people visited London 2012.com and over 5.8 million people upgraded to the London 2012 Paralympic App. The IPC also saw huge visitor numbers to its online channels.

Nearly 2 million people visited - which broadcast over 780 hours of live action - and there were more than 5.1 million downloads of videos on demand during the Games from the official IPC YouTube channel A full schedule of the daily live streams can be found here. The IPC's Facebook following increased by 350% and there were 82.1 million views of its pages. Twitter followers grew by 50%. Samsung Bloggers , an innovative collaboration between the IPC, LOCOG and Samsung whereby many of the world's top athletes provided behind the scenes video blogs, also proved extremely popular. Over 600 video blogs were uploaded and were viewed by over 300,000 people. CLOSING CEREMONY The Closing Ceremony was a spectacular affair with Coldplay, Jay-Z and Rihanna playing to a capacity crowd. His Royal Highness Prince Edward the Earl of Wessex was present to witness a spectacular show that illustrated the four seasons. Paralympians Michael McKillop of Ireland, and Kenya’s Mary Nakhumicha Zakayo were given the Whang Youn Dai award for those exemplifying the spirit of the Games.

Speeches by Sir Philip and Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, were followed by The Final Flame – a section to mark the closing of the Paralympic Games and the last night of London 2012. The ceremony ended with a spectacular firework display over the Olympic Stadium and Park, providing a fitting finale to an entirely unforgettable London 2012. David Weir caps GB's golden London 2012 Games with marathon victory | Sport | The Guardian ParalympicsGB medals David Weir caps GB's golden London 2012 Games with marathon victory The south Londoner's fourth wheelchair gold medal was a fitting finale to the greatest festival of sport staged in this country Great Britain's David Weir celebrates with his son Mason after winning the T54 marathon by five wheelchair lengths.

Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images Richard Williams on The Mall Sunday 9 September 2012 13.00 EDT First published on Sunday 9 September 2012 13.00 EDT Share on Messenger Close The only man who did not know David Weir had won his fourth gold medal of the 2012 Paralympics was David Weir. Rumbling down The Mall at the end of the last lap of the T54 marathon, five wheelchair lengths ahead of his nearest pursuer, he lost sight of the finish line. And he had no intention of slowing down until he was certain the race was over. "That's why I looked a bit moody," he said. "I didn't know if it was the first line or the second line and then I saw the cars stop down the end, so I thought, 'Maybe it's down there,' because there was no tape. That's why I carried on pushing, because I just didn't know.

I didn't know how close they were behind me and I just had to really dig deep." Eventually he rolled to a halt, having pushed his way to a victory that followed his gold medals in the 800m, 1500m and 5,000m. All those sessions a few miles away in Richmond Park, all those three-minute one-mile sprints at an average of 20mph in order to rehearse a long sprint finish, had finally paid off. This was bliss, a sun-dappled lunchtime starring the last British hero of the greatest festival of sport ever staged in this country. The 33-year-old Weir is a hard nut from a south London housing estate, with two older brothers who were talented amateur boxers. He was born with a severed spinal cord and discovered his talent for racing at the age of nine or 10, when two businessmen donated a racing wheelchair to his school, an establishment for disabled children in Kingston upon Thames.

On Sunday he had to resist the combined efforts of a bunch of rivals determined to deny him a final victory under a burning late-summer sun on multiple laps of a course that started in front of Buckingham Palace and wound its way around Trafalgar Square, along the Strand, through the City and back down the Embankment and through Parliament Square to St James's Park. He finished in 1hr 30min 20sec, ahead of Marcel Hug of Switzerland and Kurt Fearnley of Australia, the defending champion. The pair had worked together in an attempt to break Weir but could make no impression in the closing stages. "For the first five miles I was absolutely dying," the winner said. "I didn't think I was going to manage to cope, with the heat and everything. I had to take another energy shot that I had with me, just to keep going. That was meant for about 16 miles, not the first five miles, but I'm glad I took it. That was the toughest race of my life. "They were working together to try to stop me but I'm used to that. I do my own thing and race as best I can.

They did a lot of work on the front but I was going to do my work when I felt I was ready." Peter Eriksson, the 59-year-old Swedish former speed skater who is head coach of Britain's Paralympic athletes, called Weir "the most talented racer I have ever seen. You can see it on the track with the speed and acceleration but now he's showing the best endurance, too. How much better can it be?" A few minutes after the finish of the men's marathon, on the same stretch of road, Shelly Woods won Britain's last medal with a silver in the women's T54 race, behind Shirley Reilly of the United States. After a difficult time in her two track events, the 26-year-old from Lytham St Anne's had tried to make a break but settled back and waited for the final bunch sprint. "Twenty-six miles is a long way but sprinting after 26 miles – oh, man, it hurts," she said. "I've got blisters but it's 100% worth it. I feel a bit like Rocky.

I've had such a tough time on the track – I kept getting bashed down and I kept jumping up for more. Today I jumped up for more." Weir and Woods both enjoyed the support of yet another vast crowd. Heinz Frei, the 54-year-old Swiss who finished 11th in the men's race, has competed in every Paralympics since 1984 and has 14 gold medals from summer and winter Games. The winner of the London wheelchair marathon on three occasions, he had never seen anything like it. "I think it was the best ever Paralympic marathon – the conditions, the organisation, the spectators especially," he said. "Never I saw a marathon for us with so many spectators. "It looked like more than the ordinary London marathon." Under the shade of the horse chestnut trees lining The Mall Eriksson was taking the measure of the team's success. "Our goal was five to eight gold medals, and 23 to 28 overall, and to finish in the top 10 nations," the head coach said.

"We've got 11 golds and 29 medals and we're third in the nations." The key to the team's success, he said, was the integration of the Paralympic and Olympic coaching programmes: "Same training camps, same support. Then we raised the athletes' expectation, so it's no longer a rewards programme. It's an investment in medals" – with dividends on view in Monday's victory parade through London, the curtain call to end them all. David Weir wins fourth gold medal of Paralympics 2012 - BBC Sport BBC Sport David Weir wins fourth gold medal of Paralympics 2012 By Mike Henson From the section Disability Sport Share this page Read more about sharing. David Weir made it four wins from four events at London 2012 as he beat Marcel Hug to win the T54 marathon in front of an ecstatic crowd on the Mall. The 33-year-old's triumph, after 5,000m, 1500m and 800m victories, means he matches Sarah Storey as Britain's most successful athlete at the Games.

"I had to be in super-human shape to win four and I've done it," said Weir. Great Britain's London 2012 top medal winners Sarah Storey (Cycling) Four golds David Weir (Athletics) Four golds Sophie Christiansen (Equestrian) Three golds Ellie Simmonds (Swimming) Two golds, one silver, one bronze Natasha Baker (Equestrian) Two golds Hannah Cockcroft (Athletics) Two golds In the women's race ParalympicsGB's final medal hope Shelly Woods won silver after three track defeats. Woods's second-placed finish behind American Shirley Reilly means Great Britain collected 120 medals - 17 more than their pre-Games target - and finished third in the medal table behind China and Russia. They also improved their athletics medal tally from 17 (two golds) in Beijing four years ago to 29 in London, with 11 golds won. Both Weir and Woods won the London marathon in April, although the Paralympic course was very different from the one they raced in the spring.

Consisting of one 2.2 mile and three eight-mile loops, the more technical route had been seen as favouring Weir, and the Londoner remained in the leading group as it whittled down from six to leave him with just Hug and Athens and Beijing champion Kurt Fearnley for company. Despite his exertions on the track, Weir summoned up the strength over the final 500m to make a decisive break, and it was one neither of his rivals could follow. Media playback is not supported on this device 'I'm proud to be a Paralympian' - Weir "That was the toughest race I've ever raced in my life," Weir, who has suggested he might retire, added. "They were all working together to try and stop me, but I'm used to that. I do my own thing and race as best as I can. "It has just been an amazing experience these last 10 days, I've never experienced anything like it in my life.

"It just shows the British public are so supportive; they love sport, they love seeing Britain doing well, you can see how proud they are to put these Games on." His four golds in London will ease Weir's memories of a difficult Paralympic campaign in Beijing four years ago. Tipped as a contender in five events in China, he came away with two golds having been hampered with a virus. Woods, competing in the women's versions of Weir's events, had failed to get amongst the medals in this year's Games before Sunday's race.

Weir's 10 Paralympic medals Gold (6): 800m (Beijing), 1500m (Beijing), 1500m (London), 5,000m (London), 800m (London), marathon (London) Silver (2): 100m (Athens), 400m (Beijing) Bronze (2): 200m (Athens), 5,000m (Beijing) All in T54 category But after slipping 11 seconds off the pace at the 10km mark, the 26-year-old closed back in on the leaders and was only denied gold by a second as she was narrowly outsprinted by Reilly. "It has been such a tough week and I've been wanting a medal so badly," Woods said. "I've always known that physically my speed is there, it just wasn't happening on the track. "This means the world to me.

I was hoping I could do it on the track, but a silver in the marathon is amazing." American Tatyana McFadden, whose hopes of five golds in the Games were foiled by a bronze in the 100m on Saturday night, finished ninth after a mechanical problem required a change of wheel. London 2012 Paralympics: David Weir is Britain's Goliath - Telegraph Advertisement London 2012 Paralympics: David Weir is Britain's Goliath With four gold medals his goal next year, Weir is the strong man of the track, writes Gareth A Davies Track warrior: David Weir celebrates winning gold in the Men's 800m (T54) at the 2008 Paralympic Games Photo: Getty Images 2008: Gold T54 800m, T54 1500m. Silver T54 400m. Bronze T54 5,000m. 2004: Silver T54 100m. Bronze T54 200m.

In David Weir, Great Britain has arguably the world’s No.1 all-round wheelchair racing athlete. On the track, he is a champion in a classification group of unrivalled strength in the Paralympic movement. On the road in marathon racing, Weir is one of a group of half a dozen inseparable athletes at the head of the game. Weir has grown in both presence and racing nous since making his big breakthrough with gold medals in both the 800 metres and 1500m at his third Games, in Beijing, at the age of 29. Until then, the lack of Paralympic gold had haunted Weir, who has always been an athlete with vast untapped potential and immense physical strength. Like many great sportsmen who rely on confidence, Weir at his best is mean, moody, and magnificent. Weir had much to live up to. Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, the 11-times Paralympic gold medallist, was one of the first to point out his brilliant potential.

She told me in Atlanta in 1996, when Weir was a raw 17-year-old wheelchair sprinter at his first Games, that he was a unique physical specimen. But Games success eluded him. Related Articles David Weir wins New York wheelchair marathon 06 Nov 2010 World titles followed over sprint and middle distances on the track, and – demonstrating his versatility – at the London Wheelchair Marathon. Yet the holy grail for disability sport, gold at the Paralympic Games, eluded Weir until he won the T54 800m in Beijing. The victory represented more than just individual success: it was GB’s first gold in athletics at those Games. The following morning, Weir, racing like a man possessed, stormed to gold in the 5,000m. By the end of the Beijing Games, Weir was emotionally drained and he decided to pull out of the marathon on the last morning. He had won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal in nine races in six days.

In London, he insists he will not miss the marathon, and he will most likely do four events – 800m, 1500m (defending his Paralympic titles), 5,000m and marathon. The 32 year-old from Surrey has really come into his own since Beijing. When he tried out a newly-designed racing wheelchair last autumn at the New York marathon, he had a look about him that I had never seen before. He won with a wonderful sprint finish. Weir was always physically robust, built with the arms and chest of a boxer – indeed, combat sports are his penchant away from athletics, and his brothers boxed – yet it was not until recently that he began to show real maturity, racing tactically rather than just battling it out from the front. “It’s all about feel,” he says. “You can’t teach race tactics. It comes with experience.” From now on, London remains the overriding focus. No more late nights moonlighting as an in-house DJ at underground clubs in Croydon: that is on the back burner until after London. “It seems incredible now that it is just a year away,” he says.

A brief time off with his new-born son will be followed by a one-track mind: glory in the Games in London. In terms of age and experience, Weir should be at his peak – and he is also in prime form. After his thrilling win in New York, Weir had his best world championships in Christchurch in February – with gold medals at 800m, 1500m and 5,000m – and in April roared home to win his fifth London Marathon. “In New York, it was as if the pressure had finally lifted,” he says. “For years I’ve gone to major events with glandular fever, injuries, chest infections, or, as in 2006, having crashed just before the World Championships and cut my head open. I’ve had a long injury-free run, and I’ve learnt to peak on the big occasions. I’ve also got two great rivals in Marcel Hug and Kurt Fearnley. Part of the beauty of sport is having rivals who drive you on.” In Weir’s favour, Fearnley, from Australia, has already said that he believes the twisting, turning London 2012 marathon course will suit Weir style perfectly.

Another smile on Weir’s face. “The Paralympics in Britain will drive everyone on. On a personal level, having the Games here is incredible. Just talking about it makes my hairs stand on end. I’ve always dreamt of racing in front of a big crowd in my own country. I can’t wait to feed off it,” he says. “Yes, there will be pressure and nerves, but you just have to appreciate that millions of people will be behind you, willing you on. “The 10 days of competition are going to change our lives forever. I hope they also change people’s perceptions.” Paralympics 2012: David Weir adds to GB gold rush with 5,000m win | Sport | The Guardian Paralympics 2012 Paralympics 2012: David Weir adds to GB gold rush with 5,000m win Crowd erupts as wheelchair racer triumphs in last lap of dramatic race, while poster boy Oscar Pistorius suffers shock defeat Wheelchair racer David Weir crosses the line to win gold in the T54 5000m final, after nudging ahead on the last bend.

Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images Sunday 2 September 2012 20.04 EDT First published on Sunday 2 September 2012 20.04 EDT Close This article is 4 years old Wheelchair racer David Weir capped another golden day for ParalympicsGB on Sunday night as he raced to victory in the men's T54 5000m, winning a race that rivalled Mo Farah's Olympic success over the same distance for drama and emotion. After Weir's victory, ParalympicsGB had ascended to second in the medal table (behind China) with 54 medals including 16 golds – more than halfway to their target of 103 after four days of competition. Like Farah, Weir had a heavily pregnant partner watching on. And also like Farah, he did his most devastating work on the closing lap, taking the lead with less than 200m to go on the final bend amid a tumultuous response from the crowd.

Spotting a mistake by the Swiss Marcel Hug, Weir moved into his slipstream and struck to overtake his long time Australian friend and rival Kurt Fearnley on the final bend. The wheelchair racer is targeting four events in London and still has the two in which he won Britain's only track and field gold medals in Beijing – the 800m and 1500m – to come. Weir will also race in the marathon on the final day of the Games. He won the London Marathon for a record-equalling sixth time in April. "The last three laps you don't think of anything, you just want to tail that fastest person," said Weir. "Someone made a mistake and I just hooked on. This is the one I wanted to win. I'm a championship racer. You can't beat it tonight." Despite there being some gaps in the crowd where spectators had left following a shock defeat for Paralympic poster boy Oscar Pistorius, Weir's victory was greeted with raw emotion and tumultuous noise.

He said the crowd, which included the Duchess of Cambridge and London 2012 chairman Lord Coe, had given him a "massive, massive, massive lift" on the final couple of laps. "It's indescribable what it does to you. I want to send my love to my girlfriend at home, she's ready to drop in a couple of months. Hopefully she's not crying too much." There had been more medals for ParalympicsGB team members earlier in the day, before the lights went down at the velodrome and Eton Dorney rowing lake was returned to its public school owners. Appropriately, among them were more gold medals on the last day of competition in two Olympic and Paralympic venues that are now written into the annals of British sporting history. In a velodrome now synonymous with intense noise and with views of riders trailing union flags behind them on endless laps of honour, there was a dramatic end to the all-British tandem sprint final. In the event, which teams a sighted guide with a visually impaired rider, Anthony Kappes and pilot Craig MacLean easily beat Neil Fachie and Barney Storey, husband of double gold medallist Sarah.

There was also a British silver in the mixed team sprint. As at the Olympics, Britain topped the velodrome medal table. Although not as dominant as in Beijing four years ago, when they won an incredible 17 golds, they finished with five golds and 15 overall. When the Olympic Park closes for 11 months after Coldplay close the Paralympic Games on Sunday, the velodrome will be transformed into a public facility along with the adjacent BMX track. Despite huge disappointment for Tom Aggar, the single sculler who was a hot favourite but finished fourth, there was a gold on the lake for David Smith, James Roe, Naomi Riches, Pam Relph and cox Lily van den Broecke in the mixed cox four. The Duchess of Cambridge occupied her now familiar position in the stands at Eton Dorney before heading for the Olympic Stadium. There, in front of a capacity crowd at the morning session, Welshman Aled Davies won gold in the discus to go with the bronze he won in the shot on Friday. Stef Reid, 27, set a lifetime best to win silver in the long jump and recorded two new Paralympic records.

The athlete, who lost her right leg below the knee in a boating accident when 16, only narrowly missed out on gold in her combined class event. There were silvers too for world recordholder Graeme Ballard, who has cerebral palsy, in the T36 100m and for Libby Clegg in the T12 100m (visually impaired). Jessica-Jane Applegate, who has just turned 16, said she was "on cloud nine" after winning Britain's third gold in the pool in the S14 200m freestyle. There were more medals too at Greenwich Park, including gold for Britain in the team dressage event won by Deborah Criddle, Sophie Wells, Lee Pearson and Sophie Christiansen, who also won gold in the single Grade 1A event. Wells won a silver in the Grade IV individual event. At the Excel Centre, there was a silver in the table tennis for Will Bayley. Channel 4 said it was "clearing the schedules" to expand its coverage further, moving its only remaining block of afternoon non-Paralympics programming to More4, such had been the viewing figures and reaction to its coverage.

On Saturday, more people watched Hannah Cockcroft win gold in the stadium than saw Chelsea lose the Uefa Super Cup on ITV as Channel 4 was the most watched channel. Nearly 3 million tuned in to see 17-year-old Ellie Simmonds win the S6 400m freestyle in a thrilling duel with American rival Victoria Arlen on Sunday night. "The coverage of the Paralympics has completely captured the public's imagination. We are clearing our schedule to bring viewers even more of this fantastic sport," said Jay Hunt, Channel 4's chief creative officer.

Chancellor George Osborne is booed by thousands of spectators at the Olympic Stadium while waiting to hand out medals to the top three in the men's T38 400m Published: 4 Sep 2012 Paul Owen and Jacob Steinberg watched another golden day at the Paralympic Games for Team GB Published: 4 Sep 2012 Teenage swimmer takes second Paralympic gold as Great Britain is ranked second in medals table Published: 4 Sep 2012 Barney Ronay at the North Greenwich Arena Published: 3 Sep 2012 London 2012 Paralympics: athletics guide - Telegraph London 2012 Paralympics: athletics guide Read Telegraph Sport's guide to the athletics event at the London 2012 Paralympics.

Image 1 of 2 Fighting face: Britain's David Weir celebrates gold at 800m in the Beijing 2008 Paralympics Photo: GETTY IMAGES 12:56PM BST 23 Aug 2012 How to play With 170 events and 1,100 athletes, athletics is the biggest sport on the Paralympics agenda. It is open to all disability groups, meaning there is a lengthy list of classes. Athletes compete in traditional track and field events with modifications made for certain disabilities. The track events range from 100m to 5,000m - there is no Paralympic 10,000m. Field events are split into throwing - featuring discus, javelin and shot put - and jumping, consisting of high jump, long jump and triple jump. Like in the Olympics, track events start with heats to eliminate athletes, before the best performers meet in a final. The marathons will be straight finals held on the streets of central London.

Events Men’s 100 metres, women’s 100 metres Men’s 200 metres, women’s 200 metres Men’s 400 metres, women’s 400 metres Men’s 800 metres, women’s 800 metres Men’s 1,500 metres, women’s 1,500 metres Men’s 5,000 metres, women’s 5,000 metres Men's 4 x 100m relay, women's 4 x 100m relay Men's 4 x 400m relay Men's marathon, women's marathon Men’s long jump, women’s long jump Men’s triple jump Men's shot put, women's shot put Men's javelin, women's javelin 11-13: Athletes with visual impairment 20: Athletes with intellectual impairment 31-38: Athletes with cerebral palsy 40-46: Athletes with limb loss or deficiency 51-58: Athletes competing in wheelchairs The first number of each class symbolises the disability group while the last number reflects the severity - the lower the number

, the heavier the disability.

A 'T' or an 'F' is added in front of each number to signal whether the athlete competes in track or field events. Gold medals available 170 Tactics and techniques The demands upon athletics are best summarised by the Olympic motto "higher, stronger, faster". A wide range of techniques and physical abilities are required, depending on the nature of the event and of the athletes' disabilities. Wheelchair athletes, for example, require formidable strength from their upper bodies and as well-drilled coordination, whether wheeling oneself forward on the track or trying to generate maximum power behind a throw. Blind athletes are permitted acoustic signals in the 100m, long jump and triple jump events - such as voice or hand clapping. They are also allowed a guide runner for track events shorter than 1,500m, to make sure they stay within their lane. Here, runner and guide occupy one track each. Watch Facts (and phrases) With athletics being the most ancient form of activity and, in many ways, the symbol of Olympic ideology, it was an obligatory inclusion to the first Paralympics, in Rome in 1960. Only two Paralympian athletes have ever competed at athletics in the Olympics.

American Marla Runyan won five Paralympic gold medals between 1992 and 1996 before qualifying for the Olympics. She came eight in the 1,500m final in Sydney 2000, and also competed in Athens 2004. South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius then followed her lead when he competed in both the 400m and 4x400m at the London 2012 Olympics. What is Raza? A mathematical formula is applied to each athlete's throw or jump distance to calculate a points score. The athlete with the highest score wins, meaning the athlete with the least impairment does not receive an unfair advantage. The algorithm was established by tracking a number of athletes' performances over a range of years. What about combined class events? Sometimes there is not an event available for a particular classification. In this case athletes have the option of competing up a class with athletes with less impairment. For these events there is no points scoring system. The fastest run and furthest throw or jump wins.

Legends The most successful Paralympian in terms of medals is Franz Nietlispach of Switzerland, who won a formidable 14 gold and six silver medals between 1980 and 2000. He has also competed in handcycling and table tennis, and is now a politician in his home country. Tanni Grey-Thompson, who has won 11 gold medals in wheelchair racing, is among Britain's most successful Paralympians of all time. British stars David Weir won two gold medals in Beijing. His double in the T54 800m and 1,500m could be bettered this time as he will also be competing in the 400m and 5,000m. Other hopefuls include sprinter Jonnie Peacock, discus-thrower Dan Greaves, middle-distance runner Paul Blake and wheelchair sprinter Hannah Cockroft. British chances Britain won an array of silver and bronze medals in 2008 and will be hoping to go one or two better this time. More than 20 medals this year is not beyond reach.

International rivals Talk:Athletics concludes at London Paralympics with the marathon - Wikinews, the free news source Talk:Athletics concludes at London Paralympics with the marathon From Wikinews, the free news source you can write! WEIR (GBR) and REILLY (USA) win last athletics golds of London 2012[ edit ] WEIR (GBR) and REILLY (USA) win last athletics golds of London 2012 Sunday, 09 September 2012 - 17:39 LONDON, 9 September - Great Britain's David WEIR won his fourth gold medal of the London 2012 Paralympic Games in a breathtaking finish to the T54 men's marathon on Sunday. The race came down to a three-man sprint down The Mall between WEIR, Marcel HUG (SUI) and Kurt FEARNLEY (AUS), winner of the marathon in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

WEIR, a six-time winner of the London Marathon, came out on top to the delight of the crowd in central London and was timed at 1 hour 30 minutes 20 seconds. HUG took the silver and FEARNLEY the bronze, and the race between them was so close they were given the same time - 1:30.21. Moments after they had crossed the line with only a second between gold and bronze, the three regular racing rivals were giving each other enthusiastic hugs. Six men started the last of the three eight-mile (12.875km) laps together, but the three eventual medallists began to put daylight between themselves and the other trio with about five miles to go before they started the serious duelling for the medals over the final 5km. Just as he had on his way to gold medals on the track over 800m, 1500m and 5000m, WEIR got in front with 500m to go, hitting the accelerator and using his positional skill in the finishing straight to prevent his rivals from passing him.

WEIR finished the Games unbeaten and was one of only two track and field athletes to win four golds at London 2012. The other was T53 wheelchair racer Raymond MARTIN (USA). The last of the 170 athletics gold medals of the London 2012 Paralympic Games was won by Shirley REILLY (USA) in the T54 women's marathon, In a finish similar to the T54 men's event, REILLY was part of a four-woman group who turned the final corner in front of Buckingham Palace together. REILLY produced the strongest finish and crossed the line in 1:46.33. Shelly WOODS (GBR) was cheered home in second place a second behind REILLY, with Sandra GRAF (SUI) third in 1:46.35. Amanda McGRORY (USA) was unlucky to miss out on a medal when she was judged to have finished fourth in the same time as GRAF.

The chances of Tatyana McFADDEN (USA) adding to her three golds on the track ended when she had a puncture early in the second half of the race, which took five minutes to fix, and then a second puncture between 19 and 20 miles. Misfortune also befell 5000m winner Edith WOLF (SUI), one of the pre-race favourites. She was second at the start of the final lap but hit a bump in the road which resulted in her retiring from the race after losing feeling in her right arm. PNS pm/an/gs/adg Women's marathon T54: WOLF (SUI)[ edit ] Women's marathon T54: WOLF (SUI) Sunday, 09 September 2012 - 15:25 LONDON, 9 September - Comments from coach and husband Mark WOLF (SUI) after Edith WOLF (SUI) failed to complete the course through illness at the T54 women's marathon at The Mall on Sunday. Edith WOLF (SUI) On failing to complete the T54 women's marathon: "The second lap she felt very good.

She smashed into a hole in the street and got a stroke in her neck. After she lost feeling in her neck and lost feeling in her right arm, she didn't recover. She went to the hospital to check what happened. We think it is a nerve problem. Hopefully, she will be OK." "She was really looking forward to the marathon. She was really prepared, so I think she's really disappointed. I think tomorrow she will wake up and see her four medals and she will be very happy." On Edith's Paralympic Games: "I think it's important to see your athlete compete at a most important event, reaching their maximum performance. Today with Sandra GRAF (SUI) and Marcel HUG (SUI), we had athletes who performed great and I think for us it's important. We have been a strong nation in the past and, hopefully, we can do it again." On the perception of disability sports in Switzerland: "There are not so many media here, which is disappointing. But now they have recognised this (the Paralympic Games) is really a great Games.

This is the second biggest sports event in the world and they are not here, so it's their loss, they missed a big chance." On his London Games experience as a coach: "The people were great. The crowd were great. The people working here were so great. They were helpful and this was a well organised Games." PNS lo/an/mj Women's marathon T54: McFADDEN (USA)[ edit ] Women's marathon T54: McFADDEN (USA) Sunday, 09 September 2012 - 14:25 LONDON, 9 September - Comments from three-time London 2012 gold medallist Tatyana McFADDEN (USA) who finished ninth in the women's marathon T54 which finished in The Mall, central London on Sunday. Tatyana McFADDEN (USA) On the race and her problems with flat tyres: "I started out so strong and halfway through the race no one was near me then the tyre went and it took me nearly five minutes to fix it while the pack went past." "At 18 or 19 miles it went again, this always seems to happen to me in London.

Luckily, I had a spare but I was bombed out. I just wanted to sit and cry but I also wanted to finish, there was only about six miles to go and I was determined I wasn't going to get another (flat tyre)." "Finishing is the most important thing for me, it makes you a better person. I just wanted to compete and stay strong." On her reaction to her achievements at London 2012: "It's been a phenomenal Games for me, and I've taken four out of five medals and completed the marathon in less than two hours with two flats. I can't complain.

I walked away happy, thank you London." PNS jc/pm/sb SUAREZ (ESP) sets world record to win T12 men's marathon[ edit ] SUAREZ (ESP) sets world record to win T12 men's marathon Sunday, 09 September 2012 - 13:22 LONDON, 9 September - Alberto SUAREZ (ESP) added a London 2012 Paralympics Games gold medal to his 2011 world title when he won the T12 men's marathon title in a world record two hours, 24 minutes and 50 seconds in The Mall on Sunday. SUAREZ has actually run faster than the time that will go into the record books, having completed the Seville Marathon in February in 2:23:24, but that was in an event without a Paralympic licence.

The Spaniard was on his own in the final 12km after he broke away from Abderrahim ZHIOU (TUN) just after 30km, having gradually shaken off all his other rivals with a furious pace from not long after the gun, going through the halfway point in 1:12:04. ZHIOU started to tire badly from 35km and had to settle for the bronze medal as Elkin Alonso SERNA (COL) came through strongly in the last quarter of the race and caught up with him 2km from the line, and then overtook the flagging Tunisian to take the silver medal in 2:26:36. Neverthless, ZHIOU completed his London 2012 medal collection and showed his impressive running range when he finished third in 2:25:56. Earlier in London 2012, he won gold medals on the track over 800m and 1500m, as well as taking a silver in the 5000m.

The T46 men's marathon, which started simultaneously with with its T12 counterpart, was won by Tito SENA (BRA) in 2:30:40. SENA clinched his win after pulling away from Abderrahman AIT KHAMOUCH (ESP) 2km from the line with the Spaniard finishing 24 seconds behind in 2:31:04. An audacious early pace was set by ZHANG Lei (CHN), who went through the half-way point more than two minutes ahead of the rest of the field. However, by 30km ZHANG was clearly tiring. SENA and AIT KHAMOUCH worked together to haul in the Chinese runner, who eventually finished seventh, before embarking on their private duel for the gold medal. Frederic VAN DEN HEEDE (BEL) ran a solitary race in the final 15km after being dropped by SENA and AIT KHAMOUCH when the leading pair decided to chase down ZHANG. However, he ran steadily to get the bronze medal in 2:31:38 after passing ZHANG at 33km.

PNS pm/kd/sw Disappearing media[ edit ] Following the conclusion of the men's wheelchair race, lots and lots of the media up and disappeared. They did not stick around for the female medalists who were about 5 to 10 minutes behind the men. It was rather annoying in the extreme. I had some of my best photos based on waves of people disappearing after the medalists crossing the line. there were some really great stories involving athletes who finished later and not in the medals. -- LauraHale ( talk ) 20:11, 9 September 2012 (UTC) Guide silver[ edit ] This was repeatedly said by the announcer during the course of this race: If the guide runner for the blind runner ran the full marathon with the runner, they would also get a medal. The Colombian runner who earned silver had such a guide. Other runners utilized between 2 and 4 guide runners during the course of the T12 marathon. On the scoresheet, this is noted by listing the guide if they ran the whole course.

-- LauraHale ( talk ) 20:20, 9 September 2012 (UTC) Review of revision 1618978 [Passed][ edit ] Revision 1618978 of this article has been reviewed by Tom Morris ( talk · contribs ) and has passed its review at 07:24, 10 September 2012 (UTC).

Question: Who won the Marathon T54 for wheelchair athletes at the 2012 Paralympics?
Answer: David Weir